Politics

In Syria, we are allies. At home, we are the enemy: former British YPG volunteer fighter

“I’m done with Britain’s treatment towards us when I was in Rojava (Syrian Kurdistan),” he said. “Over there we are allies, but when we return we are treated as the enemy.”

Nadia Riva 2017/08/04 10:42

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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – A young British man who fought in Syria with Kurdish forces against the Islamic State (IS) says he will never be able to return home without being arrested.

Aiden Aslin, 23, left the UK in January to join the battle to retake Raqqa, the jihadist group’s de facto capital in Syria, according to the Newark Advertiser.

After Aslin first joined the fight against IS with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), he was arrested in Feb. 2016 upon his return to the UK and investigated on what he had been doing in Syria and Iraq until Oct. 2016.

Once his passport was returned by local police, Aslin left for Syria again and participated in the battle of Tabqa with the YPG. It was the last military operation he was involved in before returning to Europe.

Aslin is currently in Greece working in the humanitarian field, stating it is unlikely he will return to the UK because of attempts to arrest and question him about his time in Syria and Iraq.

“I’m done with Britain’s treatment towards us when I was in Rojava (Syrian Kurdistan),” he said. “Over there we are allies, but when we return, we are treated as the enemy.”

Aslin’s mother visited him in Greece last month, and upon her return, armed police had boarded the flight as it landed in the UK, thinking he had joined her, to arrest him again.

“I’m probably going to live in Greece,” declared Aslin.

According to the Newark Adviser, a spokesman for Nottinghamshire Police said although Aslin had been released from his bail, his case remained under investigation.

“The matter currently rests with the Crown Prosecution Service and remains under investigation,” said the spokesman.

“We are currently awaiting further advice.”

Hundreds of Westerners and other foreigners have joined Kurdish Peshmerga and YPG forces battling the IS in Iraq and Syria since 2014.

Scores of them, including Americans, British, Germans, and Australians have died in combat against the self-declared Islamic Caliphate.